Wiki of Thrones

Manchester United signs up Jon Snow

Manchester United signs up Jon Snow

Kit Harington, the talent behind Jon Snow, being the avid soccer fan that he is, decided to go watch a football match between Manchester United and Liverpool at the culturally rich Old Trafford stadium. While the match proceeded the way it did, the Manchester United team did not fail to recognise the talent and influence of the longtime Game of Thrones star and did not pass on the opportunity to “sign him up.” The official Manchester United Facebook page posted the event with a picture.

As a consequence, Kit Harington was given an honorary jersey by the interim head coach of Manchester United, the legendary Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who is renowned for his prowess on the field and his ability to coach the players to perfection. Quite interestingly, the jersey had the number 1 printed on it, which is a number usually given to the goalkeeper. This might be a reference to the fact that the Night’s Watch is essentially a shield against what lies beyond the wall. That sounds more like a job similar to that of a goalkeeper. A picture to commemorate the addition was posted on the official Facebook profile of Machester United.

Interestingly enough, the name of the jersey was neither of that of Kit Harington, nor that of Jon Snow. Instead, the jersey read ‘The King of the North.’ This might perhaps be a hint at how Jon Snow might just have to become the Night King in order to save the Throne among other things. However, the official statement was something different altogether.

“From one King in the North to another. 👑 Great to welcome Game of Thrones star and United fan Kit Harington to Old Trafford on Sunday, 🐺” read the caption.

Kit’s hair has been trimmed short to mark the end of the final season of the long-loved epic saga named ‘Game of Thrones.’ Unfortunately for the fans, they must wait until the final season premieres this April 14 to finally find out the truth for themselves.

How did Tormund survive the attack on the Wall? Kristofer Hivju teases a resolution

Among the many shockers Game of Thrones season 7 finale left us with, the uncertain fate of Tormund Giantsbane and Beric Dondarrion was perhaps the most gut-wrenching. After all, we all knew that the Wall would be breached some way or other, didn’t we? But that it would collapse with Tormund on it was not something a lot of fans (raising my hand here) were ready to accept. Hence the relief was real when the season 8 trailer showed our beloved wildling alive and kicking.

Well, Kristofer Hivju, who plays Tormund on screen, was not too perturbed himself. “I assumed that they wouldn’t give Tormund an offscreen death,” he told RadioTimes.com.

While we are all happy that Tormund survived, this just opens up so many new questions. What happened when the Wall collapsed with Tormund and Beric still on it? How did Tormund and Beric manage to get away with the Army of the Dead already marching in Westeros? Where is that corridor they are seen walking through? Is it Winterfell, or some other castle?

Hivju, of course, isn’t telling, but he does promise the explanation of his (seemingly impossible) escape will be dealt with early on. In his words,

“There will be a resolution of some kind, but as to how Tormund reappears… well, I’d watch.”

“I felt a lot of love when that happened. When people were anxious about what’s going to happen. And there have been many moments throughout the season where I have been close to death. The Hound saved me out on the lake. And I think many people thought that this is where Tormund’s going under.”

The world of Game of Thrones is dark and full of terror, and Hivju too hasn’t been immune to the uncertainty that comes with it.

“Every time we get new scripts it’s been like, ‘Am I dying on that page?’ No. That page? No. That page? No. End of the script? OK! But for season eight, it’s a different story…”

Sure. Now that leaves us with the all-important question of whether Tormund will survive the catastrophes the new season brings and manage to win the heart of his lady love, the ‘tall woman’ AKA Brienne of Tarth (and make giant babies with her). Guess we will only find out when Game Of Thrones season 8 premieres on April 14.

Critics won’t get to review Game of Thrones Season 8 episodes in advance

James Hibberd from EW has reported that HBO will not send out Game of Thrones Season 8 episodes for advance reviews.

This is not really a surprise, as critics didn’t get to review the last two seasons in advance as well. So this doesn’t come as shocking news for the critics and the fans. However, with so little news filtering out, this will only serve to hike up a craze a few notches higher before the first episode airs on April 14.

This was not always the case, though. HBO used to send out DVDs of the episodes to several prominent TV critics for advance reviews. Critics often got to view as many as six episodes of a new season before it even started to air. This format worked well when Game Of Thrones was not the cultural behemoth it today is.

But everything changed in 2015 when the first four episodes of Season 5 were leaked online even before the season premiered. No critic was held responsible, but the leak did originate from a DVD screener. HBO realized that making the episodes available so widely is a huge security risk and from Season 6 onwards, no advance screeners were sent out for reviews.

However, HBO’s security woes did not end there. Game of Thrones Season 7 too saw major hacking attempts and episode leaks. The hacker, an Iranian national, was eventually arrested and charged by US authorities. For Season 8, hence, security measures have reached new heights.

The red carpet premiere will be held before the TV opening though, and select members of the press are sure to attend. However, given how heavy-handed HBO has been with security, there will almost certainly be an embargo on reporting before the TV premiere.

Battle of Winterfell will be the longest ever Game of Thrones episode

Winter is ‘officially’ coming with Game of Thrones Season 8 nearer than ever now with less than 30 days in its premiere. 30 days isn’t a long time to wait and it’s much easier if you are an avid book reader or a binge-watcher as you can finish up a new series on Netflix or AmazonPrime within a month at least! But, we on Wiki of Thrones are destined to bring you every update related to the new season of Game of Thrones. So, the newest update is that the official runtime for each episode of the new season has been revealed by HBO, as recently reported by the most reliable source Entertainment Weekly.

A week ago we reported that HBO had revealed the run time of first two episodes of the new season being 54 minutes and 58 minutes long respectively, along with a later update on rest of the episodes. All of the info seems to be correct except for episode three which now has been officially confirmed to be longer than previously reported. The runtime for episode three is actually now 1 hour 22 minutes – which is a big nod to the epic Battle of Winterfell. Prior to this, the Season 7 finale was the longest episode, having a runtime of 1 hours and 20 minutes, which is same as the runtime of the final two episodes of the upcoming season 8.

Here is an updated list of the official runtime for each episode of Game of Thrones Season 8 as shared by the network:

Season 8, Episode 1April 14 at 9:00 p.m.Running Time: 0:54

Season 8, episode 2April 21 at 9:00 p.m.Running time: 0:58

Season 8, episode 3April 28 at 9:00 p.m.Running time: 1:22

Season 8, episode 4May 5 at 9:00 p.m. Running time: 1:18

Season 8, episode 5May 12 at 9:00 p.m. Running time: 1:20

Season 8, episode 6May 19 at 9:00 p.m. Running time: 1:20

And, so this means that the average run time for Season 8 episodes will be 72 minutes – a big relief to the fans, especially to those who weren’t happy with the runtimes, especially for the Battle of Winterfell episode.

Given the fact that these are longer than the average length of Season 7 episodes, now I’m truly and even more excited for the final season coming out on April 14. What about you guys? Share your thoughts on this update in the comments.